A recent study of energy management professionals showed that regardless of market settings or regulatory status, all utility companies are currently studying the business case for deploying modern smart meters to modernize low-voltage power grids and integrate smart grids for the last mile.
Promoting the introduction of next-generation smart meters to improve customer service and support advanced analytics in smart grids with minimal expenditures constitute the backbone of advanced metering infrastructure in today’s environment. But what is this infrastructure made up of? What building blocks do utilities need to understand and consider?
As an industry expert in utility data integration and enterprise architecture, especially in smart metering, Holley Technology Ltd. provideS advice and consulting to global utilities, and support application and system vendors to implement projects that affect millions of consumers.
As a result of this experience, we have seen various approaches to central framework decision-making that public utility companies are adopting. In this article, we explored the key factors related to the infrastructure cornerstones in the advanced smart metering value chain (ie, head-end systems) and provided our views. So, what are the different types of head-end systems on the market today, and which constitute a good and future-oriented integrated architecture that supports these systems?
The head-end system (HES) usually has two functions in the smart metering architecture. The main goal of HES is to automatically obtain instrument data, avoid any human intervention, and monitor the parameters obtained from the instrument. In this case, HES is managing connections and arranging to collect data from the metering infrastructure, including metering equipment and communications. However, HES also supports secure access to the instrument for configuration, software updates, and temporary requests.
To avoid working in multiple operating systems, ideally, you need an HES that can expose most of its services through an application programming interface (API), which means that most functions can be derived from meter data management (MDM), etc. Central System Execution or Customer Information System (CIS).
For example, theoretically authorized operators should be able to remotely disconnect the smart meter through the HES user interface. However, in most cases, this disconnected use case will be initiated by the system that manages all customer information and interactions (CIS).
The head-end system has different shapes and formats. The most common form is the form provided by the meter manufacturer. It is understandable that meter manufacturers provide a HES to operate their meter function, because if there is no interface to operate their equipment (ie HES), they will not be able to provide smart meters.
Holley Technology Ltd. have rich expericen in the AMI solution, if you are interested in this, please be free to contact us. E-mail：overseas@holley.cn Web: www.holleymetering.com
Post time: Dec-14-2021